McMaster: The Ultimate Holdover

Many in the conservative media are urging President Trump to fire his national security advisor, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. McMaster should be fired forthwith, but the reasons being argued are subsidiary to the primary reasons McMaster has to go.

The debate over McMaster has been framed in terms of his loyalty to Trump. Though loyalty to the president is important, McMaster’s ideology and bad judgment are what make him unfit for the position.

For eight years the Obama administration relentlessly politicized everything it touched. Those dedicated to Obama’s ideology were embedded in every agency at every level.

Obama’s failures are numerous and highly damaging to our national security. His State Department produced an awful arms agreement with the Russians, tried desperately to pressure Israel into an untenable peace agreement, and proudly signed Obama’s nuclear weapons deal with Iran.

Obama’s Defense Department supported the massive spending cuts Obama engineered. Those cuts are the source of the readiness crisis we now face which, for example, leave about 70% of Marine Corps F-18s unfit to fly combat missions. Moreover, the Pentagon never took a stand against Obama’s Iran deal or his dangerous Russian strategic weapons deal.

The Pentagon failed to alert American forces on the anniversaries of 9/11 (on one of which the Benghazi attacks occurred) and dedicated itself to fighting climate change and social experimentation such as admitting women to special forces and welcoming transgendered people. The army secretary ordered commanders to compromise readiness in favor of lactation needs of serving soldiers.

How far down the politicization of the military penetrated was demonstrated in 2015 in the rebellion of dozens of Central Command’s intelligence analysts who had been ordered to change their findings to match Obama’s political decisions regardless of the facts.